Scientists: No to Genetically Modified Crops, Yes to Paradigm Shift

Scientists: No to Genetically Modified Crops, Yes to Paradigm Shift


Scientists say India should not believe false promises of genetically modified crops




- Common Dreams staff






A group of scientists said that ecological farming and a shift
towards a holistic paradigm, not genetically modified (GM) crops, are
the answer for India's future agricultural needs.
(photo: gmarinich via Flickr) The
scientists made their statements in New Delhi at a media briefing
organized by Aruna Rodrigues, lead petitioner in a public interest
litigation seeking a moratorium on GM testing in India, the Times of India reports.

Prof. Hans Herren, Co-Chair of IAASTD, the International Assessment
of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development, who
was awarded the World Food Prize in 1995, said, "What we really need is a
shift in paradigm, where a holistic approach drives our interventions
in agriculture without reductionist solutions hogging the center-stage
and taking away precious resources."

Professor Jack Heinemann from the School of Biological Sciences,
University of Canterbury, pointed out the failure of GM crops to address
food insecurity. "Only two countries in the world, both in South
America, grow GM on more than 40% of their agricultural land and both
are suffering from an increased food insecurity. Most of their poor
neighbors that have not adopted GM have improving food security
statistics," he said.

This point was echoed by Dr. Doug Gurian-Sherman of the Union of
Concerned Scientists, who cited his group's studies showing that
conventional farming outperformed GM farming.

Dr. Walter Goldstein of the Wisconsin-based Mandaamin Institute
emphasized not only the failure in the U.S. of GM crops to outperform
conventional crops but also the high price farmers pay when they choose
GM seeds. "The path of adopting widespread use of high-tech GMO
technology in the USA has been accompanied by greater consolidation of
resources and power for few seed companies, higher seed prices, greater
risk for farmers and less choice in varieties with hardly any increase
in productivity."

Source:-
http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/09/25-5